"No Colon Still Rollin": Meet One Inspiring 21-Year-Old Living With The Reality Of An IBD

One blogger lifts the lid on stomach cramps, mad toilet runs and life with a stoma called “Rosie”

By
Emma Pritchard

17/05/2018

@billieandersonx

Billie Anderson is having quite a 2018. Not only has she been glamming it up at charity balls and dipping a toe into the world of modelling, she’s found her body-confident stride. But, for this 20-something-year-old from Hertfordshire, there’s something else that’s making the year even more memorable.

Back in January, Anderson had a sub-total colectomy and was given a stoma – which she’s nicknamed “Rosie”.

The reason behind this serious surgery? A condition called Ulcerative Colitis, which Anderson was diagnosed with in 2017 and which, according to the charity Crohn’s & Colitis UK, affects 146,000.

To raise awareness of UC and what it’s like to live with the condition, Anderson shares her experiences on Instagram and her Trust Your Gut blog.

WHAT IS ULCERATIVE COLITIS?

As Anderson explains, UC is a life-long autoimmune condition that causes inflammation and ulceration along the lining of the large bowel (rectum and colon). “It’s best described as sunburn along the colon,” she writes. It is one of the two Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (the other being Crohn’s).

Although its exact causes are unknown, genes likely play a part; it could also be set off by an abnormal reaction of the digestive system; or it could simply be the result of unknown “triggers”.

One thing that is for sure, though, is that treatment typically takes the form of medication – for the rest of the person’s life – to keep flare-ups in remission. Or, in the case of around 20% of UC patients, and as was the case for Anderson, surgery. “Surgery is needed if the colitis is not responding to the meds, if you have a bad succession of flare-ups, if pre-cancerous changes or cancer is found in the colon,” she writes. “I had to resort to surgery because I wasn’t responding to the medication and my colon was super angry!”

A post shared by B I L L I E • (@billieandersonx) on Jan 12, 2018 at 8:00am PST

“My journey with colitis all started in July 2016 when I began to notice some abnormal bleeding after going to loo. After a week or so I started to get serious stomach pains but I was so frightened by the fact that I was bleeding every time I went to the toilet I tried to ignore it and thought it would go away.”

But, after a month of putting up with her symptoms – like many women often do – Anderson finally booked in with her GP, who tested her for bowel cancer and (as the results were clear) sent her away.

“By November 2016, I was bed bound. Without having any clue I was in a flare up I didn’t know what was going on and was waiting to see another specialist. I went from weighing 8 stone to almost 5 in two weeks, had severe anaemia that meant I couldn’t even stand in my own shower and was just living in the bathroom.”

Following three months of tests, Anderson was diagnosed with UC in January 2017. She was prescribed steroids – which didn’t work.

“UC is a waiting game to hope the medication is strong enough to keep you under control. Three months out of hospital and things started to get messy again as I came off my safety blanket of steroids. My UC had relapsed. I was back to bleeding, rushing to the loo in the hope I didn’t ruin my favourite jeans and waking up in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat. To top it all off I started violently throwing up due to one of the drugs they’d given me. So it was back onto steroids and given an early hit of my IV therapy in the hope of getting it back under control.”

And when that didn’t work, either, a sub-total colectomy and stoma.

LIVING WITH ULCERATIVE COLITIS

“I am now part of a community of the strongest people in the world. The illness takes strength: To fight the flares, to fight the day-to-day changes of medication and doctors appointment, to fight your whole life. It hasn’t been easy though – I didn’t leap off the operating table, look down at my scars, stoma and super swollen body and fall in love. To be honest, at the beginning I hated it. I was upset that I’d been forced into this situation and I wanted to be angry at it for a while. But as time has gone on, I’ve realised for the first time ever I’m happy with what I look like. It has helped me to grow as a person and accept that this disease doesn’t define me or control me but it makes me a stronger version of myself.”

Anderson is now hoping to give other women in her situation, as well as those experiencing symptoms of Crohn’s and other IBDs, support for what they’re going through.

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